#the great family

[oldxenomorph]

Noticed a theme, so of course I'm here to talk about it before it eats away at my sanity.

I’ve noticed this for a while, but I didn’t have the words to articulate it (I still don’t, really), but it’s interesting how the Emperor is at the center of multiple figures claiming ownership of her. It’s not a war over who she belongs to, but it’s interesting to recognize how the Great Family and Nyx see themselves in her and want her for themselves, for their own reasons. (By now in this development of the Emperor’s canon, I consider Nyx as a member of the Great Family, she has so much history with them and her relationship with the Emperor automatically makes her a member.)

The Emperor was created the same way Azathoth was, that is how she came into being in this universe. She is one of three: Azathoth the Chaos Worm, Shai-Hulud the Eternal Worm, and herself the Extinction Centipede. Two old worms that dote upon their youngest sibling, their sister who is the end of all things, adored, beloved. They do not need to constantly express their claim over her, they simply know; they are the ones who named her and placed her in the Black Palace, they have blessed her in their ways, secured her place and power by their side. However, the children of Azathoth want her for themselves, they must always and explicitly express how much she belongs to them.

Nyarlathotep will say that the Emperor belongs to him because he was the first to enter the Black Palace, the first to hold her, the first to call her “Precious Emperor”. Claiming the Emperor as part of his own line, becoming the guardian of the black tar of annihilation, her blood, is the ultimate prize. One could say that his line was already extensive due to his machinations in various worlds, but within the Great Family, it is not as big as his sister's. He and Yhoundeh only had one child: Lilith, who is his most prized possession, his pride. The Emperor is different: she is Extinction, she is Control, she is order, she is the end of everything, she is annihilation on a cosmic scale, she is the horror of a black hole. Nyarlathotep believes that she should belong to him, the Crawling Chaos, because only he can sharpen her, only he can shape her, only he can and should be the one to have influence over her; she can and will be even more powerful because of him. It’s his own greed, his own desire to claim her power for himself. At the same time, deep down, there is a genuine devotion to her, as family.

“I am your Great Emissary,” he said to her all those eons ago, smiling wide and full of many sharp teeth. “I am your prophet, your herald, your agent. Everything I do, I do for you. O Precious Emperor.”

Nyog'sothep will say that this doesn't bother her and she's above her brother's greed, but she is, in some ways, not that different. It was always destined for Extinction and Night to be together, that they would one day become the Great Lord of Extinction and the Eternal Night. I'd like to think the actual estrangement between Nyx and Chaos happened much earlier than Achilles claims: Nyog'sothep quietly, subtly pulled at Nyx's consciousness during those early years of the universe, until finally the goddess separated from her parent. Through Nyog'sothep, Nyx no longer belongs to Chaos. Nyog'sothep took her into the Sepulchre, nurtured her, taught her, and then presented her to the Emperor in the Black Palace. In everything but blood, Nyx became a daughter of Nyog’sothep, a jewel made into the perfect shape and given to the most adored member of the family, fulfilling destiny. It is the reason why Nyx has always bore a certain strangeness, why she has always seemed more in tune with the domains of the Great Family than the Underworld.

Both of Azathoth's children are beings with their own agendas, their own schemes, their own reasons for wanting to possess and control these two entities that would rule the entire family and the universe and every universe after this one. Nylarathotep claims the Emperor so he can have influence over her and the great power she wields both as the Reaper Emperor and the Great Lord of Extinction. Nyog'sothtep claims Nyx because she believes that the goddess truly belongs with the Great Family, that she should belong to the Nuclear Chaos.

The rest of the family like to claim bits and pieces of the Emperor because she is their youngest and they fuss over her constantly, but the two that actually have more of a claim over her are Lilith and Alucard. Nyarlathotep is proud of his daughter’s work for bringing the Emperor’s second shape into actuality when the time was right, when the Reapers were ready to be given to her. Lilith may not have given birth to the Emperor’s second shape, but she is responsible for her second form’s existence, for raising her, for making sure that she was ready for her inheritance. She is, by all accounts, a mother to the Emperor. Alucard has a claim over the Emperor’s second form biologically, he sired her, he is the blueprint for her physical appearance, he raised her alongside Lilith, he is her father. The two of them view the Emperor as their child, their only child. (Alucard doesn’t remember the actual children he had when he was human.)

"My little dragon." He reached up to hold her face with his bare hands. "You are mine. You will always be mine. My Emperor. My Master. My daughter." Emotion glazed the Emperor’s eyes, the death of stars trapped under glass, red and black shining like petroleum tar. “I am your beast of judgment, your weapon to use as you see fit. Command me to slaughter and devour in your name.”

Nyx claims ownership of the Emperor because they were destined to be together, they were literally made for each other. The Emperor is not just a prize for Nyx, not just an entity of immense power to align herself with; the Emperor was made to be her lover, her wife, hers for eternity and every eternity after this. The Night needs Extinction to thrive, just as Extinction does not exist without the Night. In the early eons of the universe, they were inseparable, Nyx always by the Emperor’s side in the Black Palace, always in her arms; in those days, Nyx did not have the responsibilities she has now, she did not have her children, she did not have an entire realm to manage. After 8 million years of being away from each other, Nyx holds onto the Emperor tightly, even if she does still have to help manage the Underworld. After 8 million years of yearning, 8 million years of not having her in her arms, the Night Incarnate is understandably possessive of the Emperor. She wants everyone, even the Great Family, to know that the Emperor belongs to her: a black band of matrimony and amethysts, earrings made from her own violet gems of darkness, no matter who looks upon the Great Lord of Extinction they shall know that she has been claimed by the Eternal Night.

A pair of earrings. Darkness crystalized into long teardrop shapes, elongated, hanging at the end of a short gold chain, beneath a smaller gem of darkness in the middle. Nyx secured the small hoops through the Emperor’s ears, fastened and secured with perfection. Slender fingers and long lavender nails traced the line down the entity’s jaw before holding her by her chin. “Never take these off,” she said, her thumb gently smoothing over one of the great entity’s brutal red scars. “Everyone who looks at you will know that you belong to me.” The Emperor took her hand and kissed the back of it, kissed her knuckles, kissed her pam and allowed it to cup her face. She leaned into the Nyx’s touch. “I belong to you, O Eternal Night.” She then placed the Night’s hand on her chest, over where her heart would be. Deep beneath the shiny, black, biomechanical exterior, a great yawning darkness, a black hole with an ever hungry event horizon. “Every part of me is yours, everything.” A smile graced the goddess’s dark violet lips, pleased with this affirmation. She felt the insides of the great entity underneath her fingertips, feels its endlessness; her insatiable appetite for her wife’s love, her flesh, her soul, a low ache that always yearns for satisfaction, that craves the Night and all her pleasures, all her touches, her voice, her kisses, kisses, kisses. All of this for her. And what is the Night if not the same in her hunger for this being that is hers. Made for her, just for her. The darkness around them pulsed, it pressed against the great being as Nyx wrapped her arms around her middle, her hands moving upward to feel every texture, touching every junction of where thick tentacles meet a hard and cold body, her fingers fitting perfectly into every pattern. Nyx had her own endless hunger, her own infinite desire, her own cravings for Extinction in both her forms. She held the Emperor closer, tighter, and relaxed when a hand delicately caressed her chilled, pale cheek.

(Hades is told mostly through the Zagreus’s perspective, and the second game through Melinoë’s. I just think it’s especially interesting to explore Nyx’s own interiority, especially her own desires and wants within the context of my canon.)

What about the Emperor’s own agency in all of this?

I don’t think she really minds if all of these forces within her family tug at her, claiming ownership of her for themselves. The Emperor knows that every member of her family has their own agenda, even if it is for the good of the family, their piece of the universe. Her main priority, aside from the cycles of extinction, is to love her family, to govern them; she is their Precious Emperor, she will always be the one they fuss over the most, the one they dote over the most, the one they will love the most. None of them belong to her, they are all much older than her, they have existed long before this universe came into existence, many of them are more powerful than her; there is a seniority within the Great Family that she is respectful. (Though, she could technically claim Alucard since she’s his master now, but she views him more as a parent. He will always belong to Lilith.) And that is all fine with her. Nyarlathotep can continue to pull her closer to him, Yhoundeh can continue to whisper her secrets to her, Lilith and Nyog’sothep can continue to be her mother-figures, Hastur and Cthulhu can continue to fuss over her, Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Gorgoroth can continue to be her teachers. She belongs to them, all of them, because she loves them with all her heart.

That being said.

The Emperor doesn’t necessarily claim ownership of Nyx, she wants to always respect the goddess’s agency and autonomy. She’s been in love with Nyx since Nyog’sothtep first brought her to the Black Palace, they were made for each other, their existences and powers are deeply intertwined with each other; their relationship is symbiotic in all things, they need each other, she needs Nyx and Nyx needs her. It is a love that nourishes her, sustains her; she is obsessed with Nyx, she will do anything for her, she loves being claimed by the goddess, she loves to worship her. She loves showing Nyx how much she means to her, how much her love has completely consumed her: kisses on her cheeks that leave black lipstick prints, tentacles that slip beneath her dress or wrap around her waist, impromptu moments of intense intimacy that cause the stars around Nyx’s head and in her hair to die and her eyes to glow brightly and the darkness of her gems to pulse. Every kiss tells Nyx: I adore you, I want you, I worship you, I love you.

At the same time, she also wants everyone who looks upon Nyx to know that she is her wife. The night they consummated their marriage, she claimed her by doing what she promised all those eons ago: by turning her into the Eternal Night.

In such a short time, everything has changed. The world has shifted, bent into the right order, the right place.

On Nyx’s left hand was a black ring of black metal. She wore new jewelry, the gems of darkness upon her form pulsing in the dim lighting, the violet and black peplos she wears is made of richer and deeper fabric, silk spun from the oldest black holes. Upon her new stephane was the Sign of Extinction, a sigil older than any of the symbols within this House in the Underworld, older than the lord than governs this realm, older than the titans that birthed him and his siblings, older than the very Earth, this precious and blessed blue planet. An elder sign. Those with a keen sight could tell that she had changed. Her starlight eyes were brighter and the whites had been consumed by blackness, her beautiful hair was a little darker, her skin was paler and colder. Nyx had been reunited with the great entity from the Eridanus Supervoid that she has loved since the beginning of everything, since the universe was young, since the collapse of the very first stars. The Emperor is awake and whole; Reaper Emperor, Great Lord of Extinction, the Mouth of God, Immortal, Infinite, Eternal. She now belonged to Nyx, every one of her atoms belonged to her; they were made whole, together, married and loved completely and utterly. Nyx was no longer the daughter of Old Chaos, no longer simply the Night Incarnate, no longer just the Mother of Death and Sleep, Fate and Doom, Retribution and Strife, Pain and Old Age, Dreams and the Day, Destruction and the Stygian Boatman. She belonged to the family of Old Nuclear Chaos. She belonged to the Emperor, who filled her with the black tar of annihilation, the dark material of extinction, the blessed essence of the end of everything; she became the Eternal Night, endless. Empress.

Nyx wears the Sign of Extinction, bears titles given to her by the Great Family, bears within her veins a version of the Emperor’s black tar, the material swarming and mixing with her own ichor. One cannot look at Nyx without thinking of the Emperor, without being subjected to a subtle, low-level Indoctrination due to the ring of matrimony on Nyx’s left hand being made out of Reaper technology. The Emperor loves seeing her wife enjoy herself more with her advanced state of being, more powerful than before. Together they are the numinous dread of the universe, the existential horror of outer space. Nyx who pulls new and young stars from stellar nurseries and sets them on their life cycles, the Emperor who harvests all organic life and devours stars to make way for new cycles; they are the order of the universe. Nyx, the vast of night. The Emperor, the end of everything.

But as I have explored before, the Emperor more enjoys the way Nyx shows her possession of her. The way she stands next to her, the way she sits next to her with a hand on her thigh, the way she kisses her that leaves violet lipstick markings on her face and neck, the way her darkness clings to her and slides beneath her robes, the way she is able to coax her out and make her ache with lust, pulsing desire that only Nyx can satisfy. The Night Incarnate is the oldest darkness,

If there’s anything the Emperor truly, deeply claims it’s the Reapers, the xenomorphs, the Princes of Entropy, the Ziggurat, and the Black Palace. The Reapers because they were made just for her, they are her inheritance, they are the greatest expression of her existence and her power, they are part of her as much as she is part of them. The Xenomorphs are her daughters, made from her blood and dreams, they are the absolute and perfect reflections of her as an individual entity, beautiful and horrific just like her in all their variations. The Princes of Entropy are the sons she sired with Nyx, they are the three possible ways the universe will end: Heat Death, Vacuum Decay, and the Big Tear. They are each a reflection and a combination of their parents, in their genetics and their power. Finally, she is especially protective and possessive of the Ziggurat and the Black Palace, her domains, they are expressions of her soul, they are her sanctums; the Black Palace is where she came into being and where her first form will always stay, the Ziggurat is the center of the empire and it is the place where her children were born. Each of these things are tied to her by literally being part of her, carrying some of her essence within them.

And perhaps, she is also possessive of her siblings, the Chaos Worm and the Eternal Worm. The three of them are integral to maintaining balance in the universe. But she also loves them, deeply, with all her heart. They do not need to be reminded about how much she loves them, but it has become a ritualistic behavior that she needs to perform. She knows they do not need her protection nor her to worry about them, so whenever she is in their presence she blesses them, just like they did when she was younger.

[stars-and-birds]

Dana’s last ‘fuck you’ to Disney

He/they collector

Genderqueer/bi-gender papa king

TWO girlfriend kisses

Onscreen mlm kiss

Implied aladarius

a happy ending to the bi/enby couple

A happy ending to the aro/ace character

And

Death to the white Christian puritain

[chloesimaginationthings]

Happy Father’s Day to everyone but FNAF William Afton..

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[diornies]

some of my zutara sketches from twitter!

[mythtakens]

"You were there for him when I couldn't be. That's what matters."

[lucabyte]

i feel like people are sleeping on the occam's razor situation of how buckwild it is to outright accuse a guy of being a clone of your friend even if you DO have a lot of circumstantial evidence. there's other options is what im saying. they could just be like. a guy. that's a sensible deduction. you should explore that deduction. ignore my shirt that reads I <3 RED HERRINGS.

i still think odile has the correct theory on lock but she's smart enough to know it needs like... a real smoking gun to be able to bring it up without sounding insane.

anyway. (mirabelle voice) i know its rude to speculate but has anyone else noticed the grieving? they seem to be grieving. does anyone have any thoughts on the grieving? i have some thoughts on the grieving.

[suspicious-swarm-of-bees]

A little something made by me in honor of this momentous occasion

[sher-ee]

“Tanned Satan”

[emacrow]

Alfred's day off came as he went for a visit that cause suspicious in the batfam.

Alfred was looking rather energetic and enthusiastic as he was fixing himself up in the mirror, cleaning any lint and dust on his casual clothes.

The batfam has been noticing he is getting more excited that he even made everyone's favorite lunch in record time as today was one of alfred rarest day off.

Tim on the other hand is thinking that alfred might be dating someone, because he saw alfred bring light blue letters that had a soft jasmine smell.

Bruce believes Tim finally lost his marble because when does alfred had the time to date around.?

Until Dick mentioned that even old people get lonely and tend to matchmake in the form of letters like the good old days..

Which right now the batfam and Bruce leading them are currently spying on Alfred far enough where they think he wouldn't noticed them stalk- observating him.

Alfred was picking up a couple of presents, one that had plants, another had old Techno theme, one with birds, a fire theme one and a space theme present that he loaded his car with along with a stuffie bear.

Steph thinks that he could be visiting relatives at that point..?

While Bruce was remaining quiet with a calculating glint in his eyes.

They follow alfred all the ways to the one of the barely remaining clean parks, where a another young man sat with a orange hair little girl in a light greenish blue dress, a sleeping baby girl in a bassinet on a picnic blanket with a purple clock theme pattern, as he watches 4 toddlers playing and squealing around a oddly colored puppy.

Two toddlers look like a bait-adoptable bait even if both has stripes of white in their hair and one had red eyes, one toddler had blonde hair with the tips being black with purple eyes and a lightest greenish skin tone, and the remaining toddler was Egyptian African American looking with how he playing with a odd toy phone that look Egyptian theme before being dragged along to play by the green dog snatching his toy phone.

Alfred brought the presents along sitting down with the now seemingly much older man..

Jason seemed to noticed that nobody else is noticing that that guy holding the clock like staff is literally shifting from young, to adolescent, to young adult, and elderly man beside himself when he voiced his concerns.

They weren't close enough to hear what the two were saying, but the little girl with the orange hair was speaking mostly before looking up with tearful green teal eyes at alfred who went to comfort the girl.

[hailsatanacab]

A Persuasive Argument - dpxdc

"Great!" Danny says, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. The dinner table falls silent as everyone looks towards him. It's a full house today and, honestly, Danny's a little nervous. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I gathered you here today."

"It's dinnertime. In our house." Duke mutters, while doing a very bad job of concealing his yawn. He holds his fork poised over the braised beef, but, just like everyone else, still looks towards Danny before tucking in. It's intriguing enough to wait.

"Yeah, no one misses Alfie's dinner." Dick says, with a brilliant smile that Danny can't help but return.

"Precisely! What better time to talk to you all than when you're all actually here!"

"Wait, I thought you came round to work on our English essays?" Tim asks, blinking owlishly.

"I'm afraid I've lured you here under false pretences, Tim."

"This is where I live."

"I would still really appreciate help on that essay though, I mean, what the hell is Hamlet even about? I just don't get that old time-y language, like 'Hark! A ghost hath killed me!' - absolute rubbish, what does that even mean?"

"The ghost never kills anyone in Hamlet, he's there to tell Hamlet that he was murdered. Have you actually read it?"

"No, but it sounds like you have. Tim, I want this guy to help me with my essay instead. I know for a fact that you haven't read Hamlet, either."

"So? We don't need Jason, I've read the Sparknotes."

"Hi Jason, I'm Danny, pleasure to meet you, summarise Hamlet in three sentences or less."

"Am I auditioning to help you write your essays? I can't believe you’ve gone through your whole school life without reading it, it’s good!"

"Hamlet, along with a number of other classics, was banned in our house because it portrayed ghosts as intelligent and sympathetic beings rather than evil, animalistic beasts. I didn’t even get to see The Muppet's Christmas Carol until last year with Tim! It was surprisingly good, and I hate Christmas because everyone always argued and it sucked. But we're getting off topic. I—"

"No, no, please go back to that, because what the fu—"

"Boys, please." Bruce interrupts, looking to the world as if he wants to hang his head in his hands. "Danny, you were about to say something?"

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Wayne! Thanks!"

"Please, call me Bruce."

"Well, that very succinctly brings me to my point, because I'd actually really like to call you dad."

Nobody says a word. Nobody even blinks, all as shocked as the other, watching open-mouthed as Danny pulls his laptop out from beside his chair. Bruce can definitely feel a headache coming on.

"Before you say anything, I've prepared a 69 slide PowerPoint presentation on why you, Bruce Wayne, should adopt me, Danny Last-Name-Pending. Please save your questions, comments, and verdict until the end, thank you."

[oldxenomorph]

in the spirit of maybe posting works in progress that aren't just screencaps, have a little something from a thing i'm working on about shai-hulud and the emperor.

From deep below the desert's surface, Shai-Hulud emerges in an eruption of sand and spice. The not-Fremen and the Emperor are still, unmoving, watching as the great worm settles part of its immense form on the surface of its beloved planet. Shai-Hulud is old and magnificent, old as Azathoth; the Old Father of Eternity, the Grandfather of the Desert. The smell of long dead universes still clings to the rings within its rough skin, the stories of old stars and old deserts written in the roots of its teeth. <O END OF ALL THINGS> Shai-Hulud bellows. The Emperor moves to one side of the great worm’s face, her tentacles moving over the sand in tandem to her steps to maintain her equilibrium and to show respect to the Grandfather. She places a blessing against its rough exterior, at the rim of where flesh becomes teeth. She moves across the yawning darkness of its maw and does the same thing again, a blessing’s kiss on the face of Shai-Hulud. Her hand lingers on its form. The old worm is warm to the touch, but begins to cool now that it is exposed to the cold night air. To the Emperor's senses, there is a primordial warmth deep within the great entity that draws her further in. It has been so long since they last saw one another. The Emperor moves closer to the Eternal Worm and rests one of her scarred cheeks on its form. She listens to the Grandfather’s insides, the ancient songs it has kept within its shape, the songs she remembers from when she was new and young, songs and spice that enthralled her and lingered in the cold, dark atmosphere of the Black Palace long after it left. Her breathing syncs with the worm’s, slowing down. For just a moment Eternity and Extinction return to the same essence from whence they came.

bonus xenomorph cameo!

Three daughters emerge from the endless darkness of the First Reaper. A red one, the Emperor’s heart. A black one, the Emperor’s blood. A white one, the Emperor’s spirit. Shai-Hulud examines them as it would its own children.

folks, we love a family reunion. 🥹

[maddie-w-draws]

ratatouille brother challenge

[1alchemistart]

sillies!!

[caljordan]

“Are you crying from Ace Attorney sprites?”

“The way that our mannerisms are a reflection of the people we are surrounded by got to me.”

“All right.”

[turtleblogatlast]

I love Raph and haven’t said that enough so to be more specific I love that Raph is a soft boy who loves bear plushies, a gross boy who eats an assortment of things that are definitely better left alone, a smart boy who is more than capable of taking down villains through planning and fortitude alike, a strong boy who is dedicated to training his muscles and fighting prowess, a teenage boy who loves his brothers but is more than happy to tease and roughhouse with them, an angry boy who sometimes lets his anger take a hold of him to cover the fear, a gentle boy who is generous with hugs and affirmations to those he loves, a capable boy who takes on more than should ever be expected of a teenager, a good boy who just wants to be a hero and slowly comes to realize the cost of that duty, a good boy who has no reservations about putting himself in the way of harm coming to his family, a good boy who’s a great brother and son and person and deserves only the best the world has to offer.